Halloween Safety
This Halloween, parents will equip their kids with a laundry list of Halloween safety tips. "Be mindful of strangers, only go to houses with a light on, stay together and be home on time," they'll say. Then, when the children arrive home, the parents will outstretch their arms and demand, "Now let me see your Halloween candy," and then they will inspect each and every piece for evidence of tampering. Children never quite understand where these parental fears come from. In fact, many parents aren't quite sure either. The "Fact or Fiction" themed website snopes.com uncovers some of the urban legends surrounding October 31st and chronicles some of the very real fears as well.
Since the 1970s, Halloween safety has focused on the fear of contaminated candy. In 1970, 5-year-old Kevin Toson died from a heroin overdose. A few days later, officials found that the boy hadn't eaten heroin-laced candy, as originally believed. Rather, he had accidentally gotten into his uncle's heroin stash and the family had sprinkled heroin in the boy's candy afterwards to protect the uncle. Similarly, in 1974, 8-year-old Timothy Mark O'Bryan died from cyanide poisoned Pixie Stix in Houston, Texas. However, upon closer inspection, detectives found that the boy had in fact been poisoned by his own father. Even though these poisonings were far from random, parents still feared for their kids' safety amid the Halloween fun.
Another Halloween fear is that madmen will use the holiday as a cloak to kidnap, rape and torture unsuspecting victims. In 1997, police in Richland Township, Pennsylvania, opted to hand out bags of candy after a rash of attempted kidnappings. In 2005, fashion writer Peter Braunstein kidnapped and sexually abused a woman on Halloween and was later sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. In 2006, ten people were shot at a San Francisco party on October 31st. That same year a man and a fourteen-year-old boy were stabbed at a Halloween party in Santa Cruz. Two Staten Island cops kidnapped an egg-throwing kid, drove him to an isolated marsh and beat him in 2008. There are many cases of Halloween danger but these occurrences are probably no more likely to happen on this holiday than any other day. It's important to send kids in groups and instruct them to only accept treats from the porch. Teens and college students should stay away from parties in notorious areas of the city or at homes they're not familiar with.
To keep kids safe this Halloween, parents should accompany all children under the age of 12 (at ideally a 4:1 ratio). Older children should have an appropriate curfew and should be required to take cell phones and flashlights. Be sure kids costumes fit well and do not have dangling strings that could cause kids to trip and fall. If pumpkin carving is part of the family ritual, then the kids should decorate the pumpkins with black magic markers and leave the actual carving to adults. Flashlights or bulbs should then be used to light up the pumpkin, rather than a flammable candle. By taking appropriate safety measures, parents and kids can have a truly safe and spooky night.
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Today's Tip On Halloween
Or perhaps you're looking for fun Halloween party games for teens. Don't feel daunted in your quest for "the cool factor" with this age group, as they're a lot easier to impress than you may think! One mother said she sent out a story starter with the party invitations and asked the kids to write a creepy ending to be judged at the event. She said the stories were so funny, gross and fascinating that they reread them each year! Given the popularity of YouTube and viral videos, and how tech savvy kids are these days, you may also want to have a "Blair Witch Project Style Film Festival," asking each kid to write and film a five-minute horror movie to be screened at the party. Or if you'd like, you can make this a party activity by assembling old costume accessories and writing down movie ideas, letting kids pick out of a hat. Give each team 20 minutes to film their own movie as the other kids do another activity, waiting for their turn. Halloween hide-h-go-seek can be terrifying when the seeker is dressed up like a horrifying monster, creepy music is playing in the background and those caught have to lay on the floor like vampires in their coffins. Board games are always a howling good time for teenagers as well.
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